Location: North side of Bear Creek, three miles northeast of Norton on the old Norton and Northern Railroad.

Date: About 1840
 

Owners: William Dotson got his claim to this land before the county of Wise was organized. There is no account in this county either of his selling the place. At the sale of the State mortgaged land Ephraim Fraley became the purchaser on November 21, 1853. He lived at the place until he sold to J. E. Lipps, January 31,
1891. Lipps lived at this place one winter and it was rented to various people until it was sold to G. C. Williams, March 14, 1924. The place is still being rented to farmers.

Description: The house at this place was a one room hewn log house about 18 x 20 feet with a lean-to kitchen. Floored with yellow poplar planks, batten door and a window in the front. It had a mud daubed stack chimney at the north end. Ceiled overhead by laying planks on top of the joists and the gabled ends
were weatherboarded. Clapboard roof with porch across the front facing east. This old house burned sometime during the nineties. Just south of the house stood an old log barn, built pen fashion and covered with boards.
     In the earlier days the river bottom lands were all that were cleared around this place. Now all the land is cleared and it is a beautiful stock ranch with about three or four hundred acres of fine blue grass pastures.

Historical Significance: William (Billy) Dotson was a son of Simon and Phoebe Hollingsworth Dotson, who settled on Guest River in 1827. Billy Dotson first married Miss Hutchinson and later Celia Plummer. After he moved away from this place he moved to the Bold Camp settlement and there lived until his death.
The Dotson family was one of the first families and were pretty well scattered over the present county of Wise before it was formed in 1856. William Dotson was a brother to Andrew J. Dotson, Wise County's first sheriff, also a brother to Thomas and two sisters Mary who married Charles Huff and Susannah who
married Schuyler Hamilton. The late Mrs. Carter Dean of Wise was a daughter of Billy Dotson.
     Ephraim Fraley was a son of Andrew Fraley of Russell County and was born July 19, 1831, died February 23, 1917. His wife Nancy was born November 20, 1842 and died September 27, 1926. She was
the daughter of James Whitley and Elizabeth Culbertson Ramsey and was first married to Anderson Blessing who was killed at the battle of Bulls Gap in the early part of the Civil War. 
     Ephraim Fraley was a Confederate soldier during the Civil War. Ephraim Fraley had eight sons and two daughters: George, Jack, Jeff, Andrew, Henry, David, Harvey, Emmett, Lizzie and Liza.
    George married Mary McNeil. Jack married Mattie Holmes. Jeff married Mattie Dickenson. Henry
married Susan Shepherd. Andrew married Mary Anderson. David married Malissa Redwine. Harvey married in Mexico. Emmett married Ida Vance. Lizzie married Frank Dean and last Joe Board. Liza married David King and last Harmon Lewis.

Sources of information: Molly Fraley, D. C. Dean, O. B. Gilley and Court Records.